Commodities » Energy

Oil and natural gas daily review (August 16, 2010)

Contributed by Nirmal Bang

By Nirmal Bang

MARKET ROUNDUP

U.S. crude oil futures prices ended lower for a fourth day in a row on Friday and finished the week with the biggest percentage loss in six weeks, as fears grew that the slowing economic recovery would further erode oil demand.

IN FOCUS

- An area of low pressure moving over the Florida Panhandle was expected to track southward into the northern Gulf of Mexico by early Monday and had a 50 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours, the National Hurricane Center said on Sunday.

- Enbridge Inc shut its 190,000 barrel per day Line 6B crude oil pipeline after a leak on July 26 in Marshall, Michigan.

- Iraq has raised the official selling price of Basra light crude to U.S. buyers for September by 10 cents to $1.30 below the Argus (ASCI) benchmark, the State Oil Marketing Organization (SOMO) said on Sunday.

- Indian Oil Corp. (IOC) bought 4 million barrels of Nigerian crude oil in its second tender for October or late-September loading sweet crude.

FUNDAMENTAL OUTLOOK

Crude oil prices are trading up on NYMEX today. Crude oil is expected to trade up during the day tracking international leads and strong equity markets. Buying at dips should be the investor's strategy today.